ACL Issue Statement

23 Mar 2013 10:09:59

Statement Issued

Arena Coventry Limited have issued the following statement regarding the High Court adjournment.

The statement is as follows:

"The Board of Arena Coventry Limited (ACL) is pleased by the decision by the High Court in London to adjourn ACL’s application for an administration order against Coventry City Football Club (CCFC) until Tuesday 26 March 2013. The application relates to the failure of CCFC to pay ACL £1.3 million in rent that ACL is lawfully owed for the use by CCFC of the Ricoh Arena.

It is clear to the Board that the High Court judge was as perplexed as the Board itself by the unclear and contradictory statement made last night by CCFC (Holdings) Ltd, the parent company of CCFC.

While publically available sources of information including the Football League Handbook and the annual return made by the Football League to Companies House (dated 23 June 2012) state that CCFC’s Football League share rests with Coventry City Football Club Ltd; the statement issued by CCFC suggests that all assets and liabilities relevant to this application have been moved to CCFC (Holdings) Ltd. ACL’s lawyers will now be writing to the Directors of CCFC, the Football League and the administrators appointed by CCFC to request more information about this matter.

The judge clearly agreed that there is a need to understand precisely where the business and the assets of CCFC actually lie and that additional time is now required for this to be investigated thoroughly. The Board shares this view and is surprised that CCFC did not choose to represent itself at such an important hearing at the High Court; the outcome of which was of critical importance to the supporters of CCFC and the people of Coventry, as well as CCFC’s creditors and suppliers.

The Board believes that CCFC supporters should feel reassured by the fact that this matter is now being dealt with by the High Court where the truth of the matter will now be uncovered. This is an unusual situation in which a creditor (ACL) is actually trying to save a debtor (CCFC).

The Board wishes also to reiterate that there is no truth whatsoever in suggestions reported by some media today that ACL will prevent CCFC from playing at the Ricoh Arena. The whole point of the course of legal action that the Board has taken is to ensure that a successful and sustainable Sky Blues team is able to play at the Ricoh Arena for many years to come."